the Mekong River Commission have allowed for environment-related cooperation and exchange even during times of conflict, though the impact on wider international relations are believed to be more limited. UNEP's efforts to rehabilitate the Iraqi Marshlands are also reported to have indirectly contributed to peacebuilding by restoring livelihoods in the region, whereas in various African states, there are well-documented cases of bottom-up environmental peacebuilding (such as around water resources in Yemen) that have reportedly resulted in positive outcomes. Critiques While environmental peacebuilding aims to address peace- and environment-related problems simultaneously and offers a more positive and less deterministic lens on environmental security, it has also been criticized both as a concept and a practice. Some researchers have argued that environmental peacebuilding suggests a win-win approach and romanticizes environmental cooperation, which risks giving rise to technical solutions that obscure wider political conflicts and socio-economic inequalities. For example, peace parks in southern Africa as well as large-scale hydropower cooperation can result in displacements of local populations and the occurrence of conflicts. Some scholars show how the technical approach to environmental peacebuilding in fact served as a securitising move, thereby legitimising environmental actors in conflict settings. Environmental peacebuilding can also serve as a pretext for coordinated resource exploitation, among other adverse consequences. Recent studies of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s Environmental Cooperation for Peacebuilding Programme (2008–2015) moreover show that programme reports overwhelmingly frame local actors—both state and non-state—as a risk in the context of natural resource management. The study argues that this inevitably will negatively effect peacebuilding practive, because "the use of these reports as training material for UNEP and other UN staff may discourage practitioners from involving domestic state and non-state actors, and as such potentially inhibits sustainable management of resources, as well as impacting wider peacebuilding efforts." Professional associations The Environmental Peacebuilding Association was established to further exchange, research and training on environmental peacebuilding. It conducts conferences and workshops on the issue and also sponsors several awards, including the Al-Moumin Award and Distinguished Lecture on Environmental Peacebuilding. It has also developed a MOOC on environmental peacebuilding. The Association produces a bi-weekly update (or newsletter) that contains information about publications, events, positions and developments relevant to environmental peacebuilding. "Land and Environment" is one of the ten themes of the United Nations Peacebuilding Portal. The University for Peace, sponsored by the United Nations, includes “Environmental Security and Peace” as one of its eight